Resilient.
The Saints have already overcome significant hurdles to get to 4 & 1. Brown suspended. Carlisle down. Steven needing space. McCartin concussed again. Roberton heart murmur. Geary under done. Longer & Pierce injured. Acres injured. Never once did they drop their heads and quit. Just the opposite. They rose to the challenge.
Tough.
The Saints look like a hard team to play against, and I'm not talking about game plan and structure. The boys have shown a real desire to implement Billy Slater's tackling technique. Opponents are staying down longer, and often limp away from contests. And it's not just our big men doing the damage with Jack 'little axe' Lonie felling several big trees in matches so far. Matty Parker has stamped his tatts on several high profile players too. Long's ear massage on Viney in the opening minutes on Saturday a good indicator that we're up for the fight.
Prepared.
Tough question - what is the best way to gain belief? Simple answer - do the work. And the Saints have clearly done that across the entire club. The recruiters have obviously walked the extra mile to find a couple of draft diamonds, with Parker and Wilkie providing plenty of early sparkle. The new coaches have transformed the team structurally and the new game plan is maximising our strengths and minimising our weakness. The players have clearly put the miles into their legs as well, and shown they are a hard running outfit on top of a hard hitting one. Remember Melbourne had 3 full days more to recover and prepare than we did.
Determined.
The boys have been tested in every single game this year. Even Melbourne took it up to us for a quarter and a half. But you can see a real unified resoluteness in the group to work hard and overcome. The attack on the man and ball is purposive. Our defence has been unwavering. We have been undaunted by our opposition to date, and some of our more fancied opponents have looked shell shocked when confronted by the strength of our resolve. Get out of the kitchen campaigners cause the Saints are turning up the heat!
Ready.
No doubt the boys are licking their lips at the next challenge. A team we haven't beaten for a while? Bring it on. No Capitan Valiente this week? Bring. It. On. Confidence is contagious, and whilst supporters nervous systems may be more than a little frayed, the players are ready. They know the formula works, just add enegry, effort and execution. Adelaide with a FULL team you say? BRING IT ON!
We know we aren't going to win every game. But, I am now supremely confident that we are going to come out and have a real crack. We are playing like we belong in the winners circle, not like we wish we did. It's a good time to be a Saints supporter again, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to enjoy the next few weeks.
Hopefully we can win against Adelaide who I think will be blowing hard after a six day week celebrating Eddie's 300th, and then topple the Giants who we seem to match up well with. If we can do that it would mean the next two weeks we front both last years grand finalists from top spot. West Coast at home. Then the Pies at the MCG! The media will have latched on by that stage, and the underdog status will be cemented in a myriad of slow motion pregame snippets of Billings brilliance, 'Little Axe' Lonie tree felling and opponents being Parkered.
I can't fecking wait till we get there again. It's our time.